“Kreuz und Quer”
“Kreuz und Quer”
| General der Artillerie Paul Bader | 1-Oct-1940 to 25-May-1940 |
| General der Artillerie Curt Jahn | 25-May-1940 to 1-Apr-1942 |
| Generalleutnant Helmuth Schlomer | 1-Apr-1942 to 15-Jan-1943 |
| General der Panzertruppeen Fritz-Hubert Graser | 1-Mar-1943 to Mar-1944 |
| Generalmajor Hans Hecker | Mar-1944 to 1-Jun-1944 |
| Generalleutnant Hans-Gunther von Rost | 1-Jun-1944 to Oct-1944 |
| Generalleutnant Walter Denkert | 10-44 to 4-45 |
8th.Motorized Grenadier Regiment Oberst Fritz Jäger
29th.Motorized Grenadier Regiment
50th. Infanterie-Regiment (mot)
3rd.Motorized Artillery Regiment
53rd.Kradschutzen-Battalion
103rd. Panzer Abteilung
53rd. Kradschutzen Battalion
3rd. Panzerjäger Abteilung
3rd. Nachrichten Abteilung
3rd. Nachschub (supply) Truppen
3rd. Bäcker Kompanie
3rd. Kraftw. Werkst. Kompanie
3rd. Verplugungs Amt.
3rd. Sanitäts (medical) Kompanie
3rd. Kr. Kraftwagen Zug
The 3rd. Division was formed in 1934 in Frankfurt/Oder by the expansion of the Reichsheer 8.Infanterie-Division with the cover name Kommandant von Frankfurt. On 15-Oct-1935 its cover name was dropped and it offically became the 3rd. Infanterie-Division.
The 3rd. Infanterie Division was mobilized on 1-Aug-1939 for the attack on Poland. The division was then a part of IInd. Armee-Korps under 4th. Armee, Heeresgruppe Nord. The 4th. Armee was to attack into the Polish Corridor from the region of Pomerania in Germany and link up with the 3rd. Armee in East Prussia, isolating the Polish coastal forces in the region of Danzig from the forces in the south. The division crossed into Poland as part of the vanguard of the 4th. Armee. The region of its attack was known as the Tuchola Forest, an area defended only lightly by the Polish 9th. Infantry Division and Pomorska Cavalry Brigade. The 3rd. division broke through the Polish defenses at Seenkette between Nandsburg and Mrotschen, and fought across the Brda (Braha) River west of Crone. From here it pursued Polish forces through the Tucheler Heide to the Vistula (Weichsel) River in the region of Topolno-Grabowko. The division then took part in more pursuit operations over the Weichsel River in the direction of Modlin. It then took part in security operations against the Bzura Pocket between Woclawek and Wyscogrod, before fighting near Plock and advancing in the direction of Gostynin, ending its stay in Poland near Lowicz before being transfered to the Eifel region of Germany along the German-Luxembourg border.
When the attack on France and the Low Countries was launched in May, 1940 the 3rd. Infanterie-Division was under IIIrd. Armee-Korps, 12th. Armee, Heeresgruppe A. It advanced though Luxembourg and Belgium to the Maas River at Nouzonville, which it crossed. It next secured the area between Ewergnicourt and Balham before advancing over the Aisne river to Asfeld, moving further on to the Canal du Centre in the region Digoin-Chalons, soon after ending the campaign in security operations along the demarkation-line.
In October 1940, after the campaign in France had ended, the 3rd. Infanterie-Division was transferred back to Germany and reorganized into the 3rd. Infanterie-Division (mot). On 27-Oct-1940 the division was renamed the 3rd. Panzergrenadier Division.
The 3rd. PzGrD took part in the campaign against the Soviet Union in the northern sector of operations, advancing against Leningrad. Later, it was moved south and participated in operaton Typhoon, the attack against Moscow, where it participated in defensive operations during the first Soviet winter counter offensive.
Later, the 3rd. PzGrD was shifted south again, this time to the Southern Front to take part in the battles in the Ukraine and Don regions. It then advanced into the Stalingrad region where it was encircled and destroyed by the Soviets in early 1943. The division was in the vanguard that first reached the Volga river (supporting 16th. Panzers) on 23-
Aug-1942. As late as January 12, 1943 when it was in its final days, the 3rd, together with the 29th Motorized Infantry Division (the "Falcon Division"), repulsed ten to twelve Soviet divisions and destroyed one hundred tanks, all in a single day.
The division was reformed in the spring of 1943 from the few remaining elements of the original 3rd.Infanterie-Division (mot) and from the 386th.Infanterie-Division (mot). The division saw action in Italy in 1943; first at Salerno and later at Cassino. The division moved to Lorraine, France in Aug-1944 and participated in the Adennes offensive as an OKW reserve.
The commander of the 8th Infantry of the 3rd. PzGrD, Oberst Fritz Jäger, was flown out of the Stalingrad pocket on 27-Nov-1942 due to illness. He was later hanged in Hungary in 1944 after the failed putsch against Hitler.
The slogan of the 3rd. PzGrD was “Kreuz und Quer”--(literally, “Cross and crossways”) a German idiom for what we Yanks would call “Trouble”.
Pictures of 3rd. Panzergrenadier Division
Knights Cross winners in 3rd. Panzergrenadier Division
Memorial to 3rd. Panzergrenadier Division
